Friday, July 15, is D-Day for Belgian Underground Beers, as the 2-1/2-year-old Silverton company debuts its ale at a launch party at Seven Brides Brewing from 7 to 11 p.m.

Armée Secrète, named for the Belgian Resistance’s “secret army” during World War II, is the company’s signature golden ale. It will sell on tap all evening – accompanied by a Belgian dish, probably Flemish stew, on the menu – to celebrate the company’s licensure as a craft beer seller.

“It’s real now,” said co-owner Dale Coleman. “It’s gone from being a big-time hobby to a business.”

During the past year, Coleman and his co-owner, son-in-law Sheldon Lesire, lost a partner and a location but gained investors, support and licensing to brew more beer than they’d ever planned. Instead of making one barrel at a time, now they make 15-18. On their first batch for sale, that worked out to be 41 kegs.

Belgian Underground is part of a growing community of beer-makers benefiting from Seven Brides’ big tent policy. It’s the third company to sublease space and time to brew, while three others pay for contract brewing, said Josiah Kelley, a Seven Brides owner.

“We’re in a small town. If something’s good for Silverton, we need to find a way to make it good for our business,” Kelley said. “We don’t have to be on our equipment all the time, and, if we can help a fellow brewer create their product, so much the better.”

Seven Brides’ collegiality extends to the ordering of ingredients at wholesale prices and the offer of a “standing tap” at the bar inside the restaurant at 990 N. 1st Street.

“We’ve been told, as long as we’re brewing in Silverton, there will be a tap for us at the bar,” Lesire said. “They’ve been kinder then we ever expected.”

Kegs of Belgian Underground’s first batch – with a not-likely-to-be-repeated 9.7-percent alcohol rate – went out to locales starting June 21. The golden ale is in Portland at Bazi Bierbrasserie and in Salem at Archive, Capitol Taproom, Growl Movement, Venti’s and Victory Club.

After the July 15 launch party, Armée Secrète will be on tap in Silverton too. Coleman and Lesire said they hope to sell in 30 locations by Christmas, and their kegs are available for private parties. Bottling could begin in 2017.

Just as they’d hoped, the pair made their journey from hobby brewers to businessmen without going into debt. Growing on their own terms took sacrifice, patience and more than a little creativity. Coleman sold his vintage Vespa collection, and Lesire initiated a Kickstarter campaign in 2014.

“Have you heard of the ‘slow food’ movement? We make ‘slow beer,’” Lesire said. “Our intent was to be debt-free, and we knew from Day 1 it would take longer.”

Coleman, 58, and Lesire, 34, have full-time careers – Coleman as a quality technician for Warn Winches in Clackamas, and Lesire as a Realtor and special education teacher at Silver Crest and Community Roots schools. All their brewing, distributing and marketing has been done “on the side.”

In fact, the pair bought a pair of 1-gallon mini kegs from GrowlerWerks so they can give pub owners and customers a sample anytime, anywhere. Coleman is creating a distribution route along his daily commute.

Selling strangers on his beer is an easy task for this gregarious, bearded grandfather who’s been brewing for nearly two decades. A tattoo of Belgian Underground’s logo decorates his right forearm, testifying to his commitment to the company.

Lesire – tall and dark like his Belgian father – sports a matching tattoo and a slightly shy demeanor. This doesn’t keep him from also plugging his product in the Willamette Valley. It’s his love of Belgian beers that first prompted Coleman help him make one and eventually collaborate on the golden ale, porter, farmhouse ale, lager and fruit and sour beers.

The company’s title pays tribute to Lesire’s grandfather, or “Opa,” who died in 1985, and was part of the Belgian Resistance during the Nazi occupation of his country. He was 19 when Belgium was invaded and was working for the railroad. He kept track of train schedules and German troop movements and passed this information along the Underground.

“We also know – though we don’t know the details – that he was arrested three times. He was released all three times. Maybe he was able to tell convincing enough lies to divert suspicious,” Lesire said.

When Coleman and Lesire first started their company, “Belgian Underground” was a tongue-in-check reference to the fact they brewed in a basement. Then they seized upon the idea of tying the branding into a tribute to Lesire’s Opa and resistance fighters like him with drinks such as “Long Last Kiss,” Safe House” and “Het Vrige Woord,” after a clandestine newspaper.

Everyone knows a beer and a story go together, and Belgian Underground paired the best kind – true stories – with its offerings. Silverton supporters liked the idea – and the company’s beer too.

That Kickstarter campaign Lesire created? It generated $17,000 in donations by January of 2015. More recently, investors bought into 12 percent of the company, and the company has more than 1,200 “likes” on Facebook.

“We originally planned to be a microbrewery – no, a nano-brewery – but now we’re brewing on a much bigger scale,” Lesire said.